2005 digital readership study new platforms, new opportunities
TRANSCRIPT
2005 Digital Readership Study
New Platforms, New Opportunities
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Research Team:
• Mosaic Media Partners: questionnaire development, analysis and presentation (www.mosaicmediapartners.com)
• Proximity Marketing: fielding and tabulation (www.proximitymarketing.com)
Sample:
• Random selection of 37,460 digital and 37,457 print subscribers of four 101communications publications:
Methodology
Applications Development
Trends
Campus Technology
Federal Computer
WeekRedmond Totals
Print Subscribers
10,575 1,488 4,775 20,619 37,457
Digital Subscribers
10,576 1,489 4,777 20,618 37,460
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Methodology
Fielding:
• Internet-based questionnaire• A single email notification with a link to the online questionnaire yielded over 4,000 responses• PIN codes prevented multiple responses
Incentive:
• Respondents from Application Development Trends, Campus Technology, and Redmond were entered into a drawing to win two iPod mini’s.
• Federal Computer Week respondents could direct $1.00 to their choice of five charities
Time of Fielding:
• January 7 – January 13, 2005
Response and Weighting:
• Responses were matched against the original master file and weighted based on their job function/title to properly represent the total population
• The weighted data file contains 4,231 usable cases
Margin of Error
• +/- 2.0 percentage points, 99% confidence level
Respondent Profile
Print and Digital Subscribers Have Similar Demographic Profiles
2005 Digital Readership Study
2005 Digital Readership Study
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1.2%
4.2%
7.9%
9.9%
10.6%
11.4%
12.3%
19.1%
23.2%
0.8%
3.3%
6.5%
8.4%
12.2%
13.9%
10.8%
18.8%
25.3%
327 Digital, 403 Print Respondents
Respondent ProfilePrint and Digital Subscribers Have Similar Title/Function Profile
2.3%
6.7%
7.0%
7.6%
10.1%
11.0%
11.4%
15.0%
28.6%
1.9%
7.8%
6.8%
9.6%
12.3%
8.7%
13.8%
16.3%
22.6%
0.3%0.2%
Redmond Application Development Trends
IS/IT Mgt.
Network Administrator
Systems Administrator
Executive Management
Consultant
Program Developer
Network Management
Senior Systems Administrator
Database Administrator/Developer
Other
App. Dev./IS Mgt.
Sr. App. Dev./IS Mgt.
App. Dev./IS Specialist
Department Management
Application Management
Executive Management
Executive App. Dev./IS Management
App. Dev./IS Consultant/Systems Integrator
Other
Digital SubscribersPrint Subscribers
1611 Digital, 1373 Print Respondents
2005 Digital Readership Study
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1.2%
1.5%
2.3%
12.6%
18.7%
24.0%
39.4%
2.8%
3.5%
3.6%
10.9%
20.2%
19.3%
39.6%
172 Digital, 69 Print Respondents
Respondent ProfilePrint and Digital Subscribers Have Similar Title/Function Profile
2.5%
2.7%
7.0%
7.6%
8.6%
10.6%
12.5%
13.0%
25.4%
10.4%
1.7%
9.5%
9.6%
7.3%
6.3%
12.0%
13.0%
19.2%
2.4%1.5%
Federal Computer Week Campus Technology
IT/IS/DP/Network/Systems Mgt.
Exec./Sr./Division Mgt.
Systems Engineer
Admin./Operations Mgt.
Programs/Project Mgt.
Systems Analysis/Programming
C-Level Management
Procurement/Contract Management
Sales/Marketing Management
R&D
Administrative Management
IT Director/Manager
Policy/Top-Level Executive
Other
Institutes
Campus Services/Vendor
Digital SubscribersPrint Subscribers
123 Digital, 152 Print Respondents
Instructional Program Management
Reasons for Subscribing to Digital and/or Print Editions
Both Print and Digital Editions Have Specific Benefits to Subscribers;
Both Are Valuable Information Sources
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Reasons for Subscribing to Digital EditionDigital Subscribers Like Archiving, Convenience, and Search Features
What are your reasons for subscribing to the digital edition of this publication? N=2233
Digital
12.1%
26.8%
31.9%
35.3%
37.2%
37.3%
54.2%
51.5%
Saves trees
Other
More convenient than print
Ability to search
Easier to save
Easier to forward
More timely than print
Interactive features
I prefer looking online or on my computer
55.0%
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Other Reasons for Subscribing to the Digital Edition (Verbatims):
• Check email daily so not likely to overlook publication
• I don’t have to remember to bring it with me. It’s available on my machine.
• Transportable, read at work, at home, at school
• I’m already online so ease of getting info, fast
• Less clutter
• No damaged magazines with pages missing
• No disposal issues, which is not quite the same as Saves Trees
• Not obvious I’m reading it at my desk
What are your reasons for subscribing to the digital edition of this publication? N=2233
Reasons for Subscribing to Digital Edition Digital Subscribers Like Archiving, Convenience, and Search Features
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Plans to Continue Subscribing90% of Digital Subscribers Are Likely or Very Likely to Renew Their Subscription
How likely are you to renew your subscription to this (digital) publication? N=4231
Digital Subscribers subscribe to a total of 2.91 digital publications
Print Digital
Very likely
More likely than not
Not likely 58.4%
37.2%
3.7%
52.0%
38.0%
9.2%
Readership Habits
Digital Subscribers Are Avid Users of the Digital Publication and Its Other Resources
2005 Digital Readership Study
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11.9%
5.7%
55.5%
21.5%
4.8%
8.9%
51.4%
31.4%
7.2%
4.8%
49.1%
34.6%
Readership HabitsMost Digital Subscribers Increase or Maintain Their Usage of the Publication’s Resources
As a result of subscribing to the digital publication, please tell us how your use of the publication's resources has changed: N=2233
Increased
Stayed the Same
Decreased
Do Not Use
As a result of subscribing to the digital publication, please tell us how your use of the publication's resources has changed:
Publication’s Email Newsletters
Magazine Publication’s Web Site
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Readership HabitsDigital Editions Include Hyperlinked Tables of Content, Which Let Readers Easily Jump to Interesting Articles
Which best describes your typical readership habits for this (digital) publication? N=2233
Print Digital
I flip through and look at most pages, scanning or reading those articles and ads that interest me
I look at the table of contents and then go only to those articles that interest me
I look at the cover and then go only to those articles that interest me
Other
No Answer
75.5%
16.0%
5.0%2.5%
1.0%
55.8%
33.8%
3.0%0.9%
6.5%
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Readership Habits
Other Readership Habits (Verbatims):
• I look at the cover, then the table of contents, then go directly to articles and ads that interest me. Finally, I re-read everything.
• I read the articles of interest to me and then go back and read the rest but not all at one time. I revisit maybe two or three times.
• I both look at the ToC to identify where specific articles of interest are and read these articles, but then scan the rest of the e-document to see if there might be other articles that might be useful to read.
Which best describes your typical readership habits for this (digital) publication? N=2233
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Readership Habits
The typical print subscriber:
• Has read/looked into 3.19 of the last 4 issues
• Reads/reviews 65% of a typical issue
• Spends an average of 59 minutes with a typical issue
• Shares copies with 1.22 other people
The typical digital subscriber:
• Has read/looked into 2.73 of the last 4 issues
• Reads/reviews 57% of a typical issue
• Spends an average of 51 minutes with a typical issue
• Shares copies with .65 other people
Print Digital
How many of the last 4 issues of the (digital) magazine have you read or looked into? About how much of a typical issue of the (digital) publication do you read or review? About how much time do you spend with a typical issue of the (digital) publication? How many people, beside yourself, read or look into your copies of this (digital) publication?
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Readership HabitsDigital Subscribers Are More Likely to Save/Archive Digital Editions
Are you more likely to save or archive copies of publications that you receive in a digital format, when compared to print publications? N=2233
More likely to save/archive digital publication
More likely to save/archive print publication
Equally likely to save publication in either format
32.4% 23.8%
12.8%
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Readership Habits78% of Digital Subscribers Satisfied or Very Satisfied
Please rate your overall satisfaction with this digital publication. N=2233
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
No Answer
25.6%
52.8%
16.6%
1.9%1.6%1.5%
Features and Benefits of Digital Publications
Subscribers Use and Value the Digital Format’s Features and Benefits
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Popular Digital Edition FeaturesCommonly used features include linking, searching and archiving
Please tell us which features of digital publications you have used in any digital publications that you may subscribe to. N=2233
Digital
8.4%
11.3%
14.9%
20.8%
29.2%
37.4%
53.5%
54.7%
63.9%
43.3%
Links to vendor web sites from the articles
Links to white papers
Searching articles
Links to additional editorial content online
Links to vendor web sites within ads
Archiving digital issues or articles
Ability to send a single article or ad to a colleague
Watching a video about a technology issue
Live surveys about a topic with instant results
Links to audio interviews with industry leaders
Watching video coverage of an event or trade show
54.5%
Features They Have Used
Advertising in Digital Publications
Digital Publication Subscribers
Notice, Read and Respond to Advertising
2005 Digital Readership Study
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Advertising in Digital PublicationsAdvertising in Digital Publications Works
What action have you taken as a result of reading an ad in this digital publication? N=2233
Digital
4.3%
5.9%
9.4%
16.4%
22.2%
23.6%
36.5%
73.5%
Net action taken as a result of reading pub91.9%
Looked at the vendor’s web site
Forwarded info about vendor to colleague
Recommended product/service
Forwarded ad to colleague
Contacted vendor for more information
Purchased a product or service
Other
No Answer
Other Actions Taken as a Result of Reading an Ad in a Digital Publication (Verbatims):
• Adjust our procedures
• Assigned staff to research claims made in an ad that appears of potential use to us
• Compared products
• Downloaded & evaluated various products
• Downloaded a trial edition
• Read White Papers
• Added products/services to my review list
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• Digital subscribers:• Have similar demographic profile to print subscribers
• Are very influential in the buying process
• Are less likely to turn to vendor literature or sales people—can be difficult to reach
• Reasons readers subscribe to digital editions:• Archiving
• Convenience
• Easy to share
• Search features
• Portability/mobility
• Research, links
• Print is preferred by some readers for its more structured format
• Digital editions are a new platform: 90% of digital subscribers plan to renew; typically subscribe to an average of 2.9 digital editions
• Advertising in digital editions works; digital subscribers are very interested in interacting with vendors/advertisers
Conclusions